Eddie Moore and The Outer Circle Passing By

Jazz guitar can be awesome, just ask Wes Montgomery or DJ Premier. A good jazz guitar lick can be a vacuum, sucking you in and creating a world unto itself. Many hip-hop beats are based around little more than a jazz guitar loop and a drum break -- it can be that powerful.

This tune by Eddie Moore and The Outer Circle certainly falls into that category. The guitar is not the only star of the show by any means; Eddie Moore's direction leads to a soft but strong connection between his piano, Matt Leifer's drums, Dominique Sanders' bass and -- my personal favorite part of this whole, what drives the sweetness of the tune home for me -- Matt Hoppers' guitar. This track is the lead single off the group's full length debut, The Freedom of Expression, which will be out February 1, 2013, though you can hear a lengthier preview here.

Though Eddie Moore's name may not ring too strongly outside of hardcore jazz circles at the moment, he definitely has the skill set to break through. This tune and artist comes by recommendation of the great FWMJ of RappersIKnow, who seems to have all areas of Black Texas music in his hard drive.